Argentina would later beat West Germany in the final to win the 1986 World Cup. The tournament remains the most memorable international competition in Maradona’s life.
The German press agency DPA called the first goal, when the Argentinian touched the ball with his hand “the scandal of the century” and dubbed the second one as “the goal of the century”
In a documentary, ‘Diego Maradona – Rebel, Hero, Hustler, God’, the football star who sealed his place as Argentina’s football legend with the 1986 World Cup, admitted that he punched the ball into the net with his fist, “I knew it was my hand. It wasn’t my plan but the action happened so fast that the linesman didn’t see me putting my hand in. The referee looked at me and he said: ‘Goal.’
He claimed it was his way of avenging the 1982 war between the British and Argentina. “The goal was scored a little bit by the hand of God, a little by the head of Maradona.”
“It was a nice feeling like some sort of symbolic revenge against the English,” Maradona said. “We, as Argentinians, didn’t know what the military was up to. They told us that we were winning the war. But in reality, England was winning 20-0. It was tough.
“The hype made it seem like we were going to play out another war.”
According to the UK Guardian, after the game in Mexico City the Tunisian referee cited a haemorrhoid treatment that, apparently, affected his sight, as the excuse for missing the handball. Neither the referee nor his assistant was involved in another World Cup match. |